A British climber who was left paralysed after falling down Europe’s tallest vertical rock face has conquered Snowdon, despite his disability.

Only ten months after breaking his neck in a plunge off the notorious Troll Wall in Norway, Michael Garton, 25, reached the summit of the Welsh mountain on Saturday in a display of strength and commitment.

Despite his harrowing ordeal less than a year ago, and notwithstanding his confinement to a wheelchair, Mr Garton was unwavering in his determination to climb again.

Assisted by a team of 19, including climbing friends from across the country, Mr Garton was pushed and pulled in his wheelchair, with the aid of ropes, for a gruelling 3½ hours to tackle the 3,560ft (1,085m) mountain.

The experienced climber, who survived last year’s fall against all the odds, described his ascent as “awesome”.

“I have climbed Snowdon many times before but this was very special,” he said. “It was such a great feeling to be up there in the fresh air, in that environment with all my friends. It was a good laugh, an enjoyable experience and I want to do it again, but I haven’t decided yet where the next climb will be.”

Mr Garton has been climbing since the age of 12 and has tackled some of the world’s highest peaks, including the Matterhorn. He owes his life to a sharp-eyed tourist after he fell more than 120ft off the Trollveggen, the Troll Wall, in July.

Two days into a solo climb on the 5,950ft (1,800m) sheer-faced mountain, Mr Garton broke his neck when a piece of rock gave way and he slipped, lying helpless and motionless on an isolated ledge for ten hours.

Alone on the cliff, Mr Garton thought he would perish, aware that rescue attempts were usually ruled out because of the dangerous nature of the 3,300ft vertical face with its 150ft overhang.

“Because the climb is so dangerous rescue attempts are never mounted because of the danger to the rescuers,” said Mr Garton, who had been attempting to become the first British solo climber to conquer the sheer cliff face.

“I knew that and I knew I was paralysed. I expected to die there.”

He was slowly freezing to death when the tourist saw him through a telescope from several miles away and alerted the authorities. The crew of a Norwegian Air Force Sea King was in the area and mounted a rescue. Astonished to find Mr Garton still breathing, they plucked him from the mountain, which is so formidable that, until 1965, it was thought to be unclimbable.

Minutes after he was plucked from his exposed position there was another, larger rockfall.

After the accident Mr Garton remained unconscious for 12 days and needed 16 defibrillator attempts to revive him after his heart stopped.

He spent three weeks in an intensive care unit in Norway before being flown back to Britain. Even now, he spends a substantial amount of time in hospital but hopes to be discharged finally in three weeks’ time. Mr Garton, a chemical research and development officer, said that he had not given up on walking and climbing without assistance.

“Hopefully the use could come back to the rest of my body. Doctors say that with spinal injuries anything is possible and I will never give up hope of walking again.”

Mr Garton’s helpers on Snowdon included staff from the spinal injuries unit at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. He tackled the mountain with 11 other people in wheelchairs. Their climb was organised by the Back-Up Trust, a national charity that supports people with spinal cord injury.

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